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Skios by Michael Frayn: Review

Early on in Skios, protagonist Nikki Hook is contentedly surveying the idyllic grounds of the Fred Toppler Foundation, on the fictional Greek island of the book’s name. Nikki is the attractive and super-efficient assistant of Mrs. Fred Toppler, widow of the organization’s founder. To Nikki, the picturesque setting is “delicately balanced, like the works of a good watch. . . It was a complete world, a miniature model of the European civilization that it existed to promote, and she could almost feel it sitting in the palm of her hand, its clockwork quietly humming.”

Such orderly perfection seems primed for disruption — and British novelist and playwright Michael Frayn, acclaimed for his farces on stage (Noises Off) and in fiction (Headlong), orchestrates all manner of mayhem in this fast-paced romp. There’s no question that the story requires a reader’s suspension of disbelief, but Frayn makes it well worthwhile.

Michael Frayn's Skios Penguin Canada, 278 pages, $22

Michael Frayn

He takes primary satirical aim at exclusive, self-important conferences, presented here in the shape of the foundation’s annual “Great European House Party,” a smorgasbord of eclectic intellectual offerings attended by well-heeled businesspeople and influential politicos. The highlight is to be a lecture by Dr. Norman Wilfred, an expert on the management and organization of science. Nikki harbours ambitions of becoming the foundation’s next director, and since Wilfred is her choice, she has a vested interest in making sure that everything goes smoothly.

Enter Oliver Fox, a feckless young charmer who’ll do anything for a lark. He’s flying to Skios for a rendezvous with Georgie, a fetching young woman he’s chanced to meet in a bar, after being dumped by his girlfriend, Annuka Vos. He and Annuka were supposed to be vacationing at a Greek villa, courtesy of a friend of hers, but now that they’ve broken up, he’s invited Georgie to meet him there.

When the plane (which also carries Dr. Wilfred) touches down, an intricate comedy of errors and misunderstandings ensues, based on mistaken identity, lost luggage and faulty communication. Nikki assumes that the esteemed expert who is to give the lecture “Innovation and Governance: the Promise of Scientometrics” is bound to be old and dull. But in the airport arrivals lounge, where she holds up a sign with his name on it, the man who walks over to her is Oliver. He’s taken by her smile. She’s taken by his tousled hair and warm brown eyes. When she asks, “Dr. Wilfred?” Oliver responds, “I cannot tell a lie” — which Nikki (delightedly) takes as assent.

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Meanwhile the hapless Dr. Wilfred gets picked up by a taxi driver sent to collect Oliver, and is deposited at the villa, which he at first assumes is the foundation’s guest house. Then Georgie shows up, and crawls into bed with him, thinking he’s Oliver. Things only get more farcical — and complicated — from there. (Frayn tosses in several subplots, including one involving a shady Russian magnate and Vassilis Papadopoulou, a Greek power broker whose involvement in the foundation is not entirely philanthropic.)

Frayn advances the story in brief scenes, toggling back and forth between Nikki, Oliver, Georgie, Dr. Wilfred and Annuka, Oliver’s ex-girlfriend, who makes an appearance at the villa. In yet another instance of mistaken identity, Georgie assumes she’s the cleaning lady — albeit one who becomes inexplicably enraged at the sight of Georgie sunbathing by the pool.

Over at the foundation, Oliver settles into the role of impostor, pretending to be knowledgeable on a range of scientific subjects while enjoying the deference of the foundation guests and pursuing Nikki. The climax of the story takes place on the night of the lecture, when all the characters converge and there are fireworks, indeed —including an unexpectedly serious turn of events. It’s a dark note in an entertaining novel that is mostly lighthearted, a reminder that chaos can erupt even in a place that prides itself on “civilised conversation in civilised surroundings.”

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